The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

A paleontologist warns that our planet may be on the verge of a "mass extinction—when more than 75% of the Earth's known species die off in a geological eye blink." This has occurred "five times in the 550 million years that diverse life has occupied Earth."
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"Readers will enjoy Clegg's lively, enthusiastic account of the technical barriers to exploring the universe, but for the first steps, they should follow the news from China, the only nation with an active manned space program. Angry at being excluded from the ISS by the U.S., China would love to deliver some kind of payback."

Although it's a cliché, space actually does remain the last frontier, according to British science writer Clegg (Extra Sensory: The Science and Pseudoscience of Telepathy and Other Powers of the Mind, 2013, etc.) in this imaginative account of how to rekindle the thrill of the Apollo program and launch further pioneering voyages.
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"A prolific genre of books covers this subject, but Levitin holds his own, and his examination of brain function stands out."

Lost your keys or glasses? Blame your brain, writes Levitin (Psychology and Music/McGill Univ.; The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature, 2008, etc.) in this ingenious combination of neuroscience and self-help.
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"An insightful, often discouraging look at why climate control advocates have failed to get their message across and what they should do. Much of Marshall's advice is counterintuitive (e.g., drop the apocalyptic rhetoric), but it rings true."

Readers seeking information on global warming will not find much here, but they would do well to dig into this lively, nonpolemical account of why the average person pays so little attention.
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The discovery of a class of brain cells called mirror neurons was embraced by an entire generation of scientists as the key to the neurological understanding of human social behaviors. But what if the fundamental assumption about these cells' activity was wrong from the start?
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"A lively perspective on globalism as it relates to currency and systems of measurement."

Marciano, best known as an illustrator and author of popular children's books (Madeline at the White House, 2011, etc.), delves into the political ramifications of the American and French revolutions on the adoption of the metric system.
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"In this cool, disarming and persuasive indictment of fracking's widespread negative consequences, the authors provide an important addition to an ongoing debate."

A primer on unconventional fossil fuel extraction, with convincing evidence as to its deleterious nature, from veterinarian Bamberger and Oswald (Molecular Medicine/Cornell Univ.).
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A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over—and see everything anew. “Zevin writes characters who grow and prosper,” our reviewer writes, “in a narrative that is sometimes sentimental, sometimes funny, sometimes true to life and always entertaining.”
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FEATURED NONFICTION AUTHOR

For readers who love creative nonfiction (or literary journalism or whatever designation suits you), if you haven’t read any work by Michael Paterniti, take note. The longtime GQ and New York Times Magazine contributor and author returns today with a collection of essays, Love and Other Ways of Dying, which ...

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